Chris Drury

I know many of you are on the "we won't sign him" bandwagon, but didn't we all say this last year with Savard and Chara? We have enough cap space to sign him and keep our RFA's while also spend some on a few roster pluggers if necessary, and that is without trading Muzzy.

Drury will likely sign a 4 year/22+ million dollar deal or a long term deal at about 0<5.5<6.15.

I don't think Drury is a 5 million dollar player. IMO he is a 4.7ish type, but hey, the UFA is always overrated. In any case, a lot of experts actually think Drury will sign here. He has said before he would like to play for the Bruins. He could be on a line with Sturm and Bergeron. That would be fun to watch. If the Bruins can sign Drury, they would improve their team with 3 lines of being capable to score. This leads me to my point...

Does Chiarelli have a plan? This is strictly based on recent rumours, but if you piece it together it makes perfect sense...

Trade Muzzy for Toskala...you save about 2.9 million

Sign Chris Drury...adding another offensive force...you still have say 6 million in cap space (starting with 8 before the Muzzy deal).

Sign Bill Guerin to replace Muzzy at say 2.5 million for 1 year. Still have 3.5 million in space.

Now you can still sign a veteren D if you want. You upgraded at goal, you upgraded at offense. You defense is a year more experienced...what's not to like?

To make the JT trade even worse...

Rumors are about that Brad Stuart could resign with San Jose this summer, especially if Scott Hannan does not return.

Imagine if SJ resigned Stuart. So they lost him for a 1 year and a half...they got him back with adding JT. Sturm and Primeau for JT...wow, makes it even more of a robbery than it already is.

Rumours won't go away

I'm extremely busy, lately, so that's the reason of my lack of comments... Well, the rumours mill start again and our good friend Glen Murray is in the middle of it. The link between Boston and SJ for another possible trade doesn't seems to go away. For sure, the B's can use one of SJ goaltenders to upgrade that position but there's a few things to consider before a trade involving Murray occur.

First, Nabokov have a NTC. A NTC can be waive but, in the case of Nabokov, this clause cannot be waive if SJ make the playoffs. The only option aviable is Nabokov agreeing to a trade. Well, it won't happend. Why Nabokov would agree to a trade who will send him to a dead end? Boston won't probably make the playoffs, next year, and SJ will be a contender for the cup. Why would you leave, then? Nabokov win the #1 spot in SJ. That's the perfect situation for him.

The Toskala case is more interesting. His contract is very affordable and he doesn't have an NTC. The problem, here, is that SJ is not looking for an aging forward, who can score goals for sure, prone to injuries. In fact, i'm not sure that SJ is looking for fire power in the upfront. Yes, they had a pretty rough series against Detroit offensively but they have to shore up their defense first and i don't think Boston have the right stuff to deal with SJ. Do Rivet and Hannan will be sign??? If so, it might change the dynamic but what would be the cost for SJ, then?

Finally, we have to admit that Murray's contract doesn't fit well with the team situation. There's no doubt about Murray's dedication and work ethic. But, with so many holes to fill, the B's can use the money of that 4 per contract, elsewhere. The fact that Gomez, Brière and co will hit the market at a prohibitive cost will open a market for Murray. If the B's receive an offer for the scoring winger, they have to pull the trigger.

Guerin Reunion; Joe and Muzzy as well...

Bruins for once in a blue moon are in the rumors over at HockeyBuzz. Another one coming from Eklund, who is not as bad as people say in reporting rumors as people give him credit for, but it is still way too early to take anything for more than a grain of salt, Guerin to the B's as an e2. Find it interesting, but I doubt it will happen.

Another one is the Sharks are trying to get Muzzy. Makes sense to me as the Bruins need a goalie and either Toskala or Nabakov (NTR) are available... This one is more plausable to me.

Dream Offseason

Feel free to bash, well because I base this on completely nothing. I am going to be cap conscious plus or minus 1 million. Realistic trades only as well...give me what you would do as well...

Trade Glen Murray to San Jose for Vesa Toskala

Sign Chris Drury to a 4 year/22 million dollar deal.

Sign Michael Peca to a 1 year/800k deal.

Sign Tom Preissing to a 3 year/9.9 million dollar deal.

Send Hannu to minors...

Lines

Sturm (3.5), Savard(5), Drury(5.5)
Kessel (2.2), Bergeron(4.75), Bochenski(.5)
Axelsson(1.85), Peca(.8), Kobasew(1.2)
Chistov(.8), Mowers(.463), Donovan(.925)

Chara(7.5)-Ward(2.4)
Alberts(.7)-Priessing(3.3)
Ference(1.4)-Wideman(.5)

Toskala (1.375)
Thomas (1.1)

TOTAL: 45,763,000

Rumors

Two rumors today, both from Eklund.

He has Nabakov to Boston as an (e3). This makes some sense due to the recent Murray news and San Jose being a leader canidate to land him.

Chris Drury to Boston as an (e3). I've mentioned Drury's name numerous times and it seems like a perfect fit. He is a Boston native and loves the Bruins. He would add some grit and toughness to the team while also providing a great scoring touch.

If the Bruins due sign 1 major UFA, I would place my money on Drury.

Update, Eklund reports it now as an (e3-e4)...may be picking up steam.

Bruins Will Likely go After Giguere

KPD reports that the Bruins will likely pursue Giguere, but he could be seeking a deals similar to Thoms Vokoun in Nashville (5.7 per year) or Nikolai Khabibulan (6.75).

He also states that Giguere may elect to resign in Anaheim because of how Khabibulan blew in Chicago.

If Giguere's commands more than 6 million, the Bruins will likely have to look elsewhere.

High Priced Players Cou;ld be Dealt

From KPD of the Globe,

Teams have kicked the tires on the Bruins high priced players, which means Glen Murray and Patrice Bergeron. Chara and Savard have no trade clauses, while Axy and Sturm have limited no trade clauses.

KPD states that teams may be seeking these players because Briere, Drury and Gomez could top 6 million a piece.

Matt's take: If anyone will take Muzzy, please do. I love him, but like I've said before, 4.15 million is way too much money for him.

Zinojev Signs Extension; Could be Dealt

Bruins prospect Sergei Zinojev has signed a 5 year/12.5 million dollar extension with his Russian club. Who can blame him? He would not get that money in the NHL.

His deal, however, does have an "out clause" which would allow him to sign if the right offer "came along".

According to the Globe, teams have called and asked the Bruins if they are interested in trading his rights away.

Matt's Take: Trade them away for whatever you can get. He doesn't seem like he wants to play here, nothing you can do. Don't throw away money for a guy who is unproven.

Bruins Defense

Quick rundown of the likely Bruins' defenseman.

Aaron Ward
Zdeno Chara
Andrew Alberts
Andrew Ference

All of them are locks to make the roster barring a trade. As for Dennis Wideman, I left him off the roster for a reason. He sucked in the defensive zone, and he sucked on offense. A guy like Brian Rafalski would be a much better defenseman to add for the offense and then you could have a guy like Mark Stuart and Matt Lashoff as your 6th defenseman. Wideman could easily be dealt for a draft pick or in a package deal with another player.

Chuck Kobasew: Big Question Mark

Acquired in the Brad Stuart trade with Calgary, Chuck Kobasew is a big question mark on the Bruins. He was once a 20 goal scorer on an offensively challanged Calgary team and showed some major promise. Last season he was injured for almost the entire season and did not contribute much. He is set to earn 1.2 million this season.

Kobasew is very important because he could be a scorer on the top 2 lines, which would eliminate the need to go out and sign a overpriced veteren, or he could be a bust who just uses up cap space. He has little trade value, so trading him would have to be in a package. The issue with Kobasew is, we have not gotten to see him much, so there is nothing to evaluate him on.

Chuck is going to have to take his game up a notch if the Bruins are to go anywhere. If Kobasew can regain he 20+ goal form, the Bruins will have a big hole filled on the roster.

Free Agent Predictions

I am going to do a preliminary round of the major UFA's today guessing where they go and how much money. We will later come out with one in mid June before the UFA signing period goes under way, but for now, I am going to make a run at it. Feel free to disucss your extreme disagreement towards these predictions.
Note: Don't crap on me because of cap space, I am assuming teams will make some deals to clear a few million in cap space.

J-S Giguere: Boston Bruins, 3 years/16 million
Teemu Selanne: Anaheim Ducks, 2 years/10 million
Keith Tkachuk: St. Louis Blues, 2 years/7 million
Daniel Brier: Buffalo Sabres, 5 years/30 million
Chris Drury: Boston Bruins, 4 years/18 million
Roman Hamrlik: Philadelphia Flyers, 1 year/2.6 million
Brad Stuart: Los Angeles Kings, 4 years/18.4 million
Eric Lindros: Philadelphia Flyers, 1 year/900k + incentives
Ladislav Nagy: Vancouver Canucks, 5 years/28 million
Anson Carter: Vancouver Canucks, 1 year/1.5 million
Todd Bertuzzi: Toronto Maple Leafs, 1 year/1.5 million
Dominik Hasek: Detroit Red Wings, 1 year/2.5 million
Robert Lang: Washington Capitals, 2 years/8 million
Danny Markov: Edmonton Oilers, 3 years/9 million
Mathieu Schneider: Detroit Red Wings, 2 years/6 million
Petr Sykora: Vancouver Canucks, 2 years/5.5 million
Ed Belfour: Florida Panthers, 1 year/1 million
Sheldon Souray: San Jose, 4 years/26 million
Peter Forsberg: Nashville Predators, 1 year/4 million
Paul Kariya: Nashville Predators, 3 years/15 million
Kimmo Timonen: Philadelphia Flyers, 4 years/23 million
Scott Gomez: Calgary Flames, 5 years/34 million
Brian Rafalski: Boston Bruins, 3 years/10 million
Jason Blake: Washington Capitals, 4 years/16.4 million
Ryan Smith: New York Islanders, 4 years/26 million
Brendan Shanahan: New York Rangers, 1 year/4 million
Mike Comrie: Pittsburgh Penguins, 3 years/10 million
Bill Guerin: New Jersey Devils, 1 year/3 million
Scott Hannan: Minnesota Wild, 3 years/9 million
Michael Peca: Boston Bruins, 1 year/800k
Mats Sundin: Toronto Maple Leafs, 2 years/12 million
Rory Fitzpatrick: Vancounver Canucks, 2 years/6 million

Joe Thornton Trade Again?

From a whole bunch of sources via Spectors,

"recently published articles regarding potential off-season moves by the San Jose Sharks. Brian Messenger suggests re-signing Joe Thornton, who'll be a UFA next summer, to a new contract around $8 million per season might be a risky move, considering he's yet to carry his strong regular season performances into the playoffs.

Pat Hickey also weighs in on Thornton's poor post-season numbers, suggesting Sharks GM Doug Wilson might be tempted to trade Thornton if the price was right. Jim Mathesonn believes Thornton is the Sharks only untouchable player, although he also doubts that team captain Patrick Marleau will be shopped, although he acknowledged the club will be hard-pressed to retain both next summer, when Marleau is also eligible for UFA status.

Matt Kalmann seized on Doug Wilson's recent statement that the goalie tandem of Evgeni Nabokov and Vesa Toskala will be broken up this off-season, speculating as to what it might take for the Boston Bruins to land one of them. He suggests an offer of veteran forward Glen Murray, a prospect or two and goalie Hannu Toivonen for Nabokov, and Toivonen and either lesser prospects and/or PJ Axelsson for Toskala."

Matt's Take: Wouldn't it be nice to see Joe back here, not going to happen. As for Muzzy, San Jose is definately the leading landing spot for him. I might go for the PJ, prospect for Toskala deal, but PJ is very underrated by many. As for Glen Murray, Hannu Toivonen and 2 prospects, no way. I'd do Hannu, Glen straight up for Nabakov. SJ isn't scamming me twice...

Lindros a Target (br 1.5)

From Eklund, the Eric Lindros is at an e2 for the Bruins. Knowing him, take it from what it is worth. But this is not the first time the Bruins have showed interest in him. They wanted him when he signed with Toronto, then in Dallas.

I know the Bruins want a veteren 3rd line center, but names like Peca make more sense to me. Lindros is still good when healthy, but I'd rather take a few 100 more grand for someone who stays healthy. If Lindros were to come at say 500,000 or less, I'd take it. But other than that, no.

Bruins Holes

A quick rundown of the roster and hole in the team.

Sturm-----Savard-----Murray
____-----Bergeron---Bochenski
Chistov-----Kessel------Kobasew
Axelsson-Mowers--Donovan
Reich

Chara--Ward
Alberts-_____
Wideman-Ference

________
Tim Thomas
Hannu Toivonen

Trade Canidates: Glen Murray, Tim Thomas, Hannu Toivonen, Shean Donovan, Chuck Kobasew

Potential Moves

It is still a little early to see who is going to be in the UFA pool and who will not be, due to many teams resigning players. We will get a better idea in a week or two, but here is a list of potential moves I find that are not too far-fetched for the team.

1) Signing JS Giguere. Look at this guy in the playoffs...he is a work horse. He is 12-1 in OT playoff games, he is clutch. If it were not for him, Anaheim would not be in the finals. Giguere is an elite goaltender, and will commend top money, but no team will go anywhere without a good goalie. Please tell me the last team win it all with a crappy goalie...He is the creme of the crop for this years UFA goaltenders.

2) Trading for Evgeni Nabakov/Illya Bryzgalov/Vesa Toskala. If the Sharks decide to go with Toskala, or Nabakov, whichever one, the Bruins could target the oddman out. Toskala is a more affordable contract, while Nabakov is a proven commedity. If the Ducks do resign Giguere, Bryzgalov could be made a available, the Bruins would have to part with some talent, but he seems to be a real good young goalie.

3) Signing Tomas Vanek to an offer sheet. Now you may think I going out on a limb...Oh, wait I am...but there will likely be a few offer sheets given out this offseason, especially to Buffalo with its young talent. An offer of 3.7 + could be more than Buffalo can handle while trying to resign Drury and Briere while also retaining other RFA's. Vanek would fit perfectly with Bergeron or Savard.

4) Trading for Patrick Marleau. San Jose will try to dump him possibly in efforts to sign former B's captain JT to an extension. He'd be a nice guy on the team, but then again, I see money better spent elsewhere.

5) Trading Glen Murray. Sorry Glen, love ya, but 4.15 million should get me more than what you provide. Had he been signed for less, I'd be all for it. We need to clear space in order to sign better players.

6) Signing a veteren dman like Rafalski, Timmonen, Schneider, Markov and others. We need one more veteren skilled dman. Timmonen would be the best for the Bruins.

The RFA Game

League news is that the RFA game could come into play again with teams now having top tier RFA's available. Players likes Tomas Vanek, Backstrom from Minny, and other young guns could be signed to offer sheets. This will intensify negotiations with current teams in hope of signing them to long term deals. Proves to make it better why PC signed Bergeron. Last year there was only 1 offer sheet given out and that was by the Devs. Look for it more this offseason, could make it a more interesting offseason. Some bad blood could develop.

Reason for Deal

If anyone is wondering, the reason the Bruins and Jackets were able to make a deal is because non-playoff teams are allowed to trade during the playoffs.

Bruins Acquire Defenseman

Press release from bostobruins.com

BOSTON, MA - Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli announced today that the club has acquired defenseman Adam McQuaid from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for a fifth round pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. Subsequently the team signed McQuaid to a multiyear contract.

“We acquired Adam because we were impressed with the way that he developed this season with Sudbury,” said Chiarelli. “He has size, strength, a good hockey sense and he is a good defender. We felt that the draft was thinner than usual in the lower rounds and that this was a good way to get value with a lower round pick. We are happy to have Adam in the mix.”

McQuaid, who is 20 years-old and from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, was selected by the Blue Jackets with the 55th overall pick in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft.

McQuaid has spent the past four seasons playing for the Sudbury Wolves of the OHL. Last season, he played in 65 games for the Wolves, tallying nine goals, 22 assists and 100 PIMs.

Islanders Resign Goalie

The New York Islanders resign Wade Dubielewicz to a one year $500,000 contract. Here's a guy who will backup Ricky D. It also will probally end the carrer of Islanders GM Garth Snow's best friend Mike Dunham, who backed up DiPetro last season before lossing his job to Dubielewicz. This is one less team and goalie off the free agent market.

The next goalie who could be off the market could be Minnesota Wild's all star goalie Nikals Backstorm. Reports are they will talk this coming week. Look for Backstrom to get about $3 million a year. If Backstorm does resign with Minnesota look for veteran goalie Manny Frendez to be dealt some possible teams are some of the warmer area's in the US; Phenoix, Tampa Bay, and Florida.

Bruins Sign Prospect Rask

The Bruins finally signed goaltender prospect Tuukka Rask, who was acquired last draft night for Andrew Raycroft, to a 3 year/2,550,000 dollar deal, or 850,000 a year.

Rask could play for the Providence Bruins in the playoffs alongside Hannu Toivonen.

My Bruins' Offseason Plan

This team needs a few more pieces to become successful again. They need a scorer, a goaltender, and an upgrade defensively. The Bruins really do not have much cap space for next season, so here is what I would like to see, without dishing out big time money for a free agent.

Holmstrom-Savard-Murray
Sturm-Bergeron-Kobasew
Kalus-Kessel-Bochenski
Axelsson-Mair-Donovan

Ference-Chara
Lashoff-Ward
Alberts-Wideman

Mason/Thomas

Pick up Tomas Holmstrom on a one or two year deal at anything less than 3 million. He is not the greatest skater or shooter in the league, but he does the dirty work. Put this guy in front of the net because he is the best in the league at blocking the goalies view. He is always jamming away at rebounds and always scores the "garage goal", something the Bruins need more of. A goal is a goal, it doesn't matter how pretty is it. This makes the top line better as well as the powerplay.

Give some of the kids an opportunity to show their skills. Kessel, Kalus, Bochenski, and Lashoff should get regular icetime.

Sign a 4th line center-- someone who will add grit, energy, and will drop the gloves. Mair may not be the best choice, but anyone over Mowers is an upgrade in this department.

Sign a goaltender to help out Tim Thomas. It is obvious the Bruins will not land a top of the line free agent goaltender in the offseason, due to the lack of cap space. Plus they have Tuuka Rask a year or two away. Sign Chris Mason to a one or two year deal and have him and Thomas split time between the pipes. Mason will probably be fairly cheap as well.

I'm also still open to getting rid of some of the players this team is currently made up of. Mowers and Donovan are easily replaceable. Ward is not worth the 2.75 million he's making next season. Yes, he's a veteran with a lot of experience, but he is not a #2 defenseman. Axelsson and Murray are very injury-prone, as has shown over the past four seasons. Murray should stay because he is a true goalscorer, but I would like to see Axelsson moved for a pick or some young talent.